Newborn Litter On My Porch - Has Mama Abandoned Them?

ezwriter

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So this feral female I've been feeding for a couple of years now just had a litter of 4 on my back porch last night (I've been unable to trap her - this is her 4th litter since she's been hanging around my place).

With all the other litters, she had them elsewhere and they would show up on my back porch at about 1 month of age, so this is my first experience with feral newborns.

I placed a cardboard box sideways with a towel in it to shield her and them from passers by, that she could put the babies in if she wanted (she didn't). It just seemed to confuse her, so I took it away after about an hour.

A couple of hours have passed, and it seems like she's kind of left the kittens alone. She's hanging around nearby, and she's back and forth on the back patio, but she's not currently feeding them or grooming them. I'm thinking, "shouldn't she just be with them? Why isn't she with them?" Is this normal?

Should I be worried that she's abandoned them? What should I do? If she has abandoned them, that would be something she's never done with her previous litters (at least the last 3 of them). At what point should I start to worry?
 

Kieka

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She's experienced enough that I don't thinks she's abandoned them. Most likely, she's just trying not to draw attention to them. If the kittens are quiet then they are feed and happy. In the wild, Mom will spend a good amount of time getting food and watching out for danger compared with an indoor cat who doesn't have worries.
 
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ezwriter

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Shortly after I posted this, I peeked outside and she was back to nursing them.

The next morning the kittens were gone. Momma had taken them and stashed them elsewhere.

A couple of days later she had them back on my back porch, and the next day she took them away again. It's been a few days and I haven't seen them, but I'm sure they're OK.

Momma comes and goes off the porch. When she's gone, I assume she's with the babies, and when she's on the porch, I suspect they're sleeping and she's taking a break from them.
 

maggie101

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Awesome you are taking care of them! For health reasons,please get her neutered.
If you have flower pots you might see clumps of dirt-guess what.
One time I took care of a mom and 4 kittens. The mom obviously hunted at night because one of the kittens had a rat in its mouth. I pulled on the tail but he wouldn't let go so I started to grab the rat. Luckily I did not have to because there was aa big flash of lightning. Scared the kitten so she dropped it.
 
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